البيان
al-Bayān
A name of the Quran: that which is clear and makes other things clear; also eloquence of expression.
What it means
Al-bayān comes from a root meaning to be clear. As a name of the Quran, Faruqi says, it denotes that which is itself clear and makes other things clear. The word also names eloquence in speech and gave its name to the branch of Arabic rhetoric that studies clear and effective expression. The Quran uses the word of itself: “this is a declaration (bayān) for humankind, a guidance and an admonition for the mindful” (3:138). Another passage says that God taught humankind bayān (55:4), which here means the power of clear speech. The name expresses the claim that the Quran is both lucid and an instrument of clarity for its readers.
Often misunderstood as
That the Quran is obscure and needs a code to read it, when it names itself as a clear declaration.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 26, listed as AL BAYĀN. The definition is restated here.